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2018 Oscars: 'The Shape of Water' scoops best picture, director

The annual Hollywood movie awards season climaxed with the most-nominated film, Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water, winning best picture and best director at the Oscars presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles.

It remained a favourite throughout the run-up and also took away minor Oscars original music score and production design.

In one of his two acceptance speeches, the Mexican-born director, producer and actor made a pitch for universal values:

"In the last 25 years I've been living in a country all of our own. Part of it is here, part of it is in Europe, part of it is everywhere. Because I think that the greatest thing our art does and our industry does is to erase the lines in the sand. We should continue doing that when the world tells us to make them deeper."

In the other major awards, Frances McDormand won best actress for Four Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, while Gary Oldman won actor for playing wartime prime minister Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour.

How they rate at box office
Box office returns are no guarantee of success, as a variety of political and other issues come into play from voting members of the academy.

In recent years, blockbusters have been ignored and this year's war epic, Dunkirk, is an exception. It was the 14th highest-grossing film in the US last year, just ahead of Get Out, a horror film with a racial theme.

The Shape of Water and Four Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri are ranked at 50th and 55th respectively.

Dunkirk also clicked with New Zealand audiences, coming in at fifth last year with box office takings of $4.1 million. The closest to this is the $1.9m from Darkest Hour, which depicts Churchill becoming Britain's leader during a week in June 1940 leading up to the Dunkirk evacuation.

Darkest Hour has a New Zealand connection, as the screenplay is written by Anthony McCarten (Ladies Night), who was also a producer.

Latest local box office returns show The Shape of Water at $636,000 after six weeks, while the revenge thriller Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri has $1.7m (eight weeks) and newspaper drama The Post is at $1.2 m (seven weeks). None of the four other best picture nominations has cracked the $1m mark.

The full list, with winners in bold, is:

Best motion picture of the yearCall Me by Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The PostThe Shape of Water
Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Sally Hawkins in The Shape of WaterFrances McDormand in Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Margot Robbie in I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan in Lady Bird
Meryl Streep in The Post

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Timothée Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread
Daniel Kaluuya in Get OutGary Oldman in Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington in Roman J Israel, Esq

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Mary J Blige in MudboundAllison Janney in I, Tonya
Lesley Manville in Phantom Thread
Laurie Metcalf in Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer in The Shape of Water

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Willem Dafoe in The Florida Project
Woody Harrelson in Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri
Richard Jenkins in The Shape of Water
Christopher Plummer in All the Money in the WorldSam Rockwell in Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Music written for motion pictures (Original score)
Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk
Jonny Greenwood, Phantom ThreadAlexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water
John Williams, Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Carter Burwell, Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

Music written for motion pictures (Original song)Mighty River from Mudbound. Music and lyric by Mary J Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Taura StinsonMystery Of Love from Call Me by Your Name. Music and lyric by Sufjan StevensRemember Me from Coco. Music and lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
Stand Up For Something from Marshall. Music by Diane Warren Lyric by Lonnie R Lynn and Diane WarrenThis Is Me from The Greatest Showman. Music and lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul